Through the usual media gaze, even Lupita's traumatic true story of the self-hate she had for her dark skin has been rebranded as a Third World dark skin black girl narrative, overcoming the adversity of the mythical beauty norms of whiteness. While many black women share Lupita's story of struggling with colourism, it is important that we do not get trapped into universalizing it. Primarily, we should acknowledge and appreciate that there are actually many black women who have been raised to embrace their dark skin without the social anxieties of being affirmed by mainstream gendered standards.

Hollywood has wheeled out its finest goods in time for Christmas, but we can't forget some of the gems that premiered earlier in the year. Here, in a very definitive order, are my favourite movies of the year -- from the dizzying suspense of "Gravity" to the ab workout that was "The Heat."

December 10 has been declared Human Rights Day. This is a day for all of us in the West, in particular, to pray for those who live under autocratic, theocratic, despotic regimes who deny their citizens their humanity.
There is slavery on the 21st century. While we exclaim over the movie "12 Years a Slave," we ignore those who are enslaved today, in Sudan and North Korea.

Between long, punishing shots of brutal whippings, lynchings, hangings, and rape, and the pervasive repugnance of the situation more generally, Steve McQueen has mounted the most affecting film about American slavery that has ever been made. But, does that in and of itself recommend it?